New install question

[blts]

I just got Direct installed last week and they installed a dish with the lnb for 99/101/103/110/119. I was expecting the lnb for just 99/101/103 (no international channels for me) and just one wire running from the dish to the house but they installed 4 wires from the dish to the house (75' run). The installer said they have inventory problems getting the 3 lnb dish and thats why they were installing the other lnb. He also said they have problems with the installation of the one wire system from the dish to the house so they run a separate wire from the dish to each receiver.

The installer didn't seem very professional,his truck was a pig pen, he smoked,smelled and when he set the dish up he couldn't get a signal on the receivers because he set the dish up to the wrong satellite. I even asked him when he was installing the dish that I thought it wasn't pointed in the right direction. When he went to adjust the dish again he cut one of the wires from the lnb to the house instead of unhooking it from the lnb and hooking up a short wire from the lnb to his meter like he did the first time. When he was done he hooked the two wires together with grounding block connector so now when the wind blows it bangs against the dish.
Can someone tell me if this is the standard installation for a new installation?

 

[mitchflorida]

I don't see why you would complain about getting a 5 LNB instead of a 3 LNB. That way you will get all of the music channels on 119.

Regarding smoking? If he smoked inside your house, that is not allowed. Are you going to forbid him from smoking outside now too?

 

[Claude Greiner]

I wouldn't complain about getting a 5 LNB Dish vs a 3 LNB Dish.

I would be a little concerned that he didn't use the single wire solution, since thats required if you want to ever activate the whole house DVR features, if you got a DVR and an additional HD receiver.

A ground block is accecptable to make a connection, but I do think it looks a bit unprofessional.

The 5 LNB Dishes have a short wire coming out of the Dish to hook a meter to, I wouldn't be too concerned if he cut the wire and spliced it back together. Hopefully its got weather boots on it.

 

[MightyMikeNice]

A ground block is acceptable?LOL

What about a barrel connector?

Or better yet,leave solid cable unless it is ABSOLUTLEY nescessary to snip it.Why not take one of the home runs temporarily off the LNB,use a jumper to re aim,tighten the dish down,and put the home run back.
What??An extra 2 or 3 minutes if your even somewhat mechanically inclined.
IMHO,using a grounding block to join to F's anywhere except at the actual point of grounding is HORRIBLE!
And as far as the flapping in the wind part,that just tells me it was probably a smack in because all the cables should be harnessed and secured in a tight and neatly fashion.
Im not a D* contractor,nor do I work for one nor am I affiliated with one in anyway,so I dont know the official quality control.
The smoking....so what...it's a free country.
The unorganized truck...I agree its nasty and I could never work like that,but all you should care about is the install and the professionalism.(Am I stepping on myself?Is having an orderly truck part of the overall "professional" experience??)

 

[Jimbo]

As for the Truck appearance, get over it, many have a truck with stuff all over the place.
Mines not very neat either and I KNOW where everything is ....

Smoking ? Was he smoking inside ? If so did you ask him to put it out when he came in if you have no smoking in your house ?

The Ground block for a barrel, Mighty, you are questioning this, as he used the wrong item ?
A barrel is all a ground block is with a support to hold them.
Yes, he should have not left the Ground block the way it is, why he didn't take the ground block apart I don't know.

Yes, it's nice to have a nice and neat install and they all should be.

OP, If your not happy with it, call them back and have a Manager come out to look it over.

 

[stonecold]

Yeah I would call us asap and complain about the install if your not happy with it. But again my number one rule dont sign anything until your happy.

 

[Jimbo]

Yeah I would call us asap and complain about the install if your not happy with it. But again my number one rule dont sign anything until your happy.

Only problem is if you have an installer thats a. in a hurry or b. upset, c. running late
and you ask him to correct the issue, he'll be more upset and probably not fix it the way you want anyways.
We all have bad days from time to time.

I would also call in and have someone else come out to take care of it.

 

[blts]

I wouldn't complain about getting a 5 LNB Dish vs a 3 LNB Dish.

I would be a little concerned that he didn't use the single wire solution, since thats required if you want to ever activate the whole house DVR features, if you got a DVR and an additional HD receiver.

A ground block is accecptable to make a connection, but I do think it looks a bit unprofessional.

The 5 LNB Dishes have a short wire coming out of the Dish to hook a meter to, I wouldn't be too concerned if he cut the wire and spliced it back together. Hopefully its got weather boots on it.

The 5 lnb did have a short wire coming out when he started but when he hooked the 4 home run cables up he took that one off. When he had to go re-adjust the dish he just cut one of these home run cables and hooked his meter up to it and then when he was done he just put a grounding block connector on it. It works but if he wasn't so lazy he should of disconnected the wire from the lnb and not just cut it in half. He told me that they don't use the single wire solution because they have problems with them and its better to run four wires and if I need to add more receivers they will just put a switch on one of these wires at the house.

Only problem is if you have an installer thats a. in a hurry or b. upset, c. running late
and you ask him to correct the issue, he'll be more upset and probably not fix it the way you want anyways.
We all have bad days from time to time.

I would also call in and have someone else come out to take care of it.

You hit it on the nose. He was over 2 hours late and then he got here and realized he did not have two of the correct receivers so he called his warehouse. They wanted him to pick them up(30 min. each way)and he yelled at them and told he would cancel the job if they didn't deliver them because he didn't have time to do the install and also pick them up so they finally agreed to deliver them. He then tells me he has been working out of town (2 hours from home) and that this is his last job of the day. Then he tells me that he must install the dish on my shed 75' from the house because I have no LOS and I asked him about the corner of my house but he says a tree will block a couple of the satellites. So by this time I just told him ok and that I would bury the cables myself. Then when he is all done he says he should of gotten the 3 lnb because it could of gone on the corner of the house where I originally said to put it and I would not have 75' of cable to bury. He was grumpy the entire time he was here and I had pre-run all of the wires from the rooms to the basement and I was the one in the crawl space pulling the home run cables to the basement for him. I guess all that counts is that everything works. I just had to vent a little. Thanks for everyone's responses.